Wire cutting pliers



Aug. 7, 1962 w. R. SPENNINGER WIRE CUTTING PLIERS Filed NOV. 25, 1959/NVEN'OR By WRSPENN/NGER ATTORNEY iiice Patented Aug. 7, 1962 3,047,947WIRE CUTTING PLIERS William R. Spenninger, Florham Park, NJ., assignorto Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., acorporation of New York u i Filed Nov. 25, 1959, Ser. No. 855,396

2 Claims. (Cl. 30-186) This invention relates to tools such as pliersand more particularly to wire cutting pliers intended for severing highstrength wires of steel or some other high strength material.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of a wire cuttingtool or pliers which will sever a wire or rod with a minimum amount ofeffort on the part of the user.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a wire cutting toolin which the strain on the tool is minimized due to the cutting bladesbeing centrally disposed with respect to the jaws of the pliers and inalignment with the fulcrum or pivot point of the tool.

A further object of this invention is the provision of means on one ofthe jaw members for exerting a bending force on the wire on each side ofthe cutting edge at the time it is being severed.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of blademembers which may be readily removed from the jaw members forreplacement.

My invention contemplates a plier structure wherein the severing bladesare centrally disposed with respect to the sides of the jaws. Located onone jaw and positioned on each vside of the cutting blade and in spacedrelationship therewith are longitudinally extending bosses or abutmentswhich serve as bending bars for the material being worked upon. Thisnovel structure facilitates the cutting of heavy wire or the like whichis positioned in the jaws and about to be severed, since the aboutmentswill engage the wire on each side of the cutting blades at the same timethat the blades begin their 4severing action, thereby exerting a bendingforce on the wire, and materially reducing Ithe force required to severthe wire, due to said bending action.

My invention will be more clearly understood from the following detaileddescription when read with reference to the following drawing, of which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view, in perspective, of the tool of myinvention with the jaws therein in their open position;

FIG. 2 is an elevational View of my improved tool;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view, ysimilar to FIG. 3, but showinga wire positioned between the jaws of the `tool in the process of beingsevered.

As shown in the drawing, the reference characters 1d and 11 indicate thehandle portions of the tool and the characters 12 and 13 indicate thejaw members.

The handle members and 11 are joined together in pivoted relation, bymeans of the stud pin 14 which serves as the pivot or fulcrum for thehandles 10 and 11. The stud pin 14 is located close to the cutting edges16 and 23 thereby increasing the leverage applied to the handles 10 and11.

As shown in the various figures, the upper or jaw member 12, which isserrated atA its free end, has removably positioned therein, in asuitable recess or depression,

a cutting member 115. The configuration of this cutting member -15 isnovel in that the cutting blade or edge portion 16 is centrally disposedwith respect to the sides of the jaws and is flanked on each side by thebosses or abutments 18 and 19. The bosses 18 and 19` extend in parallelrelation with respect to the cutting edge 16 and are in spaced relationwith respect thereto.

As shown, the bosses 18 and 19 have substantially wide, flat, faceportions and extend slightly above the plane of the knife blade 16. Thesurfaces of the bosses 18 and '19 are knurled to minimize thedisplacement of the wire being worked upon. The member 15, as heretoforedescribed as being removable, is held in place by the recessed set screw20. However, this member may be secured therein by any suitable means.

Located in the jaw body member 13, which is also serrated at its freeend, is the cutting member 21. This member is also removably secured inplace by means of the set screw 22 and is provided with a cutting orknife edge portion 23 which is in alignment with the cutting edge -16 ofthe upper cutting member 15. Like the cutting member 15, the member 21,while being shown secured in place by a suitable set screw 22, may besecured in place by any suitable means.

It will be readily observed that in the operation of the improved toolof my invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the wire 24 to be severed is bentdownward by the bosses 18 and 19 as the cutting edges 16 and 23 arebrought toward each other by the force applied yto the handles 1t) and`11, thereby severing the wire 24 with a minimum amount of eort on thepart of the operator and without undue strain on the tool. i

While I have shown and described the preferred `ernsome distance fromthe end of each jaw, a centrally disposed rst blade member, having acutting edge thereon, removably secured in the recess of one of saidjaws and having on each side thereof, in spaced relation, longitudinallyextending bosses which project beyond the cutting edge of said iirstblade member, a second blade member removably secured in the other ofsaid recesses and having a raised longitudinally extending centralportion in alignment with said first blade member and adapted toregister therewith when said jaws are closed by said handles.

2. A wire cutting tool comprising a pair of handles, a stud disposed insaid handles to provide a pivot therefor, jaws on each of said handlesadjacent said stud, each of said jaw members provided with an elongatedrecess extending to the marginal edges thereof and terminating somedistance from the end of each jaw, each of said recesses havingpositioned along one edge thereof a longitudinally extending shoulderportion, a centr-ally disposed blade member, having a cutting edgethereon, re-

movably secured in the rescess of one of said jaws abutting said firstshoulder and having on each side thereof, in spaced relation,longitudinally extending bosses which 3 l project beyond the cuttingedge of said blade member, References Cited inthe file of this patent asecond blade member removably secured in the other n of ysaid recessesabutting said second shoulder and llav- UNITED STATES PATENTS ing araised longitudinally extending central portion in 442,426 Donnelly Dec.9, 1890 alignment with said first blade member and adapted to 5 651,0182 MeClary June 5, 1900 register therewith when said jaws are closedby said 1,187,237 Beauchamp June 13, 1916 handles. 2,173,215 ShoverSept. 19, 1939

